SECTION 1 VARIETY.
1. The Necessity of Variety. Every part of our physical organization has a definite amount of force to be used in sensation, and when, by prolonged exertion, this force is expended, pain takes the place of pleasure. What is true of our bodies is true analogically of our minds. Experience teaches that mental activities which once gave delight, produce pain when greatly prolonged. How great a prolongation may be pleasurably endured, depends greatly on habit. The sounds of many northern dia¬lects which are so unpleasant to us, are musical to those who have heard them from childhood. Our own speech would grate upon an Italian ear, unaccustomed to so many and difficult combinations of consonants. But, although habit and training create wide differ¬ences in the sensibilities of men, it is a demand of universal human nature that we vary the powers em¬ployed in any activity, and also the mode of their employment. Hence the necessity of variety in style. 2. The Applications of Variety. Variety is necessary in all the elements of expres¬sion. We shall notice its application to the following: (1) Letters; (2) Words and Syllables ; (3) Sentences ; and (4) Figures. I. LETTERS. In the combination of letters the law of variety may be violated in two ways : (1) by the cumulation of Consonants ; and (2) by the cumulation of Vowels. 1. The Cumulation of Consonants. Too many consonants taken together tax the powers disagreeably, as may be seen in such words as twelfths, hundredths, sixthly, strengthenedst. These words are not only difficult to pronounce, but they are unpleasant to the ear. Whether their unpleasantness to the ear is owing wholly to an association of the sound with the difficulty of utterance, or partly to a straining of a perceptive power beyond its habitual limit, is a curious question whose decision would not practically affect the law of variety. There may be some reason to suppose the latter, from the fact that no one of these letters is disagreeable if sounded by itself, and that any letter becomes disagreeable if repeated continually. A succession of consonants of different orders ren¬ders the effect still more disagreeable. Mutes are di¬vided into surd and sonant, according as they arc .formed of voiced or unvoiced breath. The transition of the vocal organs from the production of a surd to the production of a sonant, is difficult. Thus it is im possible to pronounce the syllable sqfd, without making the " f " a "v," or the "d" a " I." 2. The Cumulation of Vowels. A succession of vowels produces a hiatus which is dilagreeable. Hence the tendency to separate them by the insertion of a consonant ; as, an ox, an army, rather than, a oz, a artny. IL WORDS AND SYLLABLs Variety in the use of words and syllables is violated : (1) by the recurrence of the same sound,—Tautophony ; and (2) by the recurrence of the accent at regular intervals,—Afetsr. . 1. Tautophony. (1) Offensive Tantophony,—The unpleasant effect of the repetition of the same sound in the following sentence is felt at once : "The Captain ordered the Orderly to order the ordnance arranged in order." The substitution of synonyms for some of these words improves the effect. The recurrence of the same syllable often be. comes offensive. Thus holly, lowlily, uniform for¬mality, are unpleasant to the ear. Dr. Johnson says : "Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults." Here the first two words hiss sharply, and the sentence ends with an unmelodious repetition of "a/." Clearness of meaning sometimes renders such collocations difficult to avoid. (2) Intentional Tantophony.—In alliterative and consonantal rhyme, tautophony is purposely employed. How such repetition of sounds becomes subservient to expression will presently appear. 1) Absence of Intentional Rhyme in the Classic Languages.—Mr. Marsh observes that "It has been thought singular that with the multitude of like ter¬minations, and the great sensibility of the Greek and Latin ear, neither rhyme, alliteration, nor accent should have become metrical elements, but that, on the contrary, repetition of sound in all its forms should have been sedulously avoided."* He then offers the following explanation of this fact "The frequent re¬currence of like sounds in. those languages was una¬voidable ; it was a grammatical necessity, and if such sounds had been designedly introduced as rhymes, and thus made still more conspicuous, they could not but have been as offensive to the delicacy of ancient ears as excessive alliteration is to our own. To them such obvious coincidences appeared too gross to be regarded as proper instrumentalities in so ethereal an art as poetry, and they constructed a prosody depending simply on the subtilest element of articulation, the quantity or relative length of the vowels." 2) Reason of this itbsence.—The absence of in¬tentional rhyme in Greek and Latin poetry results not so much from its grossness as from its inutility. In English, rhyme is a real auxiliary of poetic expression. That there is something persistent in it, is evident from the fact that it has triumphed over the violent opposition of Sir Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, and Mil¬ton. Rhyme came into our language as a constituent element of poetry just at the time when English was passing, or, more strictly, had passed from an inflected to an uninflected form of speech. Latin contains many more rhyming words than any other spoken Ian guage, but Italian contains four times as many as Eng¬lish, and Spanish six times as many as English. Rhyme becomes subservient to poetical expression by the fewness of rhyming words. In a language so poor in rhymes as English, rhyme economizes expectant at¬tention by the regular introduction of corresponding forms. When one of the rhyming words is given, we can almost predict what its mate will be. We cannot indeed, always name the exact word, but, since the conditions of the case limit the number of possible words, we are prepared for a word of a certain kind. In Spanish, words have on the average twenty-five rhymes each. It is clear that in Latin the number would be so great as to afford no clew to what word would be given. Hence the Romans never intention¬ally or spontaneously wrote rhyme. In English, words average only three rhymes each. Hence, since the language has lost its inflections, rhyming poems are .he most common. Knowing the ending of a rhyming word before it is given, we are in possession of the whole before it is pronounced, and accordingly have a fraction of time to dwell upon the idea expressed. An experimental test of this prediction of a word may be made by causing some lines of poetry to be read aloud. The regular recurrence of corresponding syllables re¬lieves the listener of a certain amount of attention. rhat economized attention may be devoted to the re¬Alization of the ideas. This economy of expectant attention depends on the regularity of the rhyme. Here is another reason why rhymes are not common in inflected languages, since they would occur in the mid¬dle of lines as well as at the end. In English, the regularity compensates for the lack of variety. Nor is the regular recurrence of rhyme a serious violation of variety, for different sounds intervene between the rhyming words. 3) The Adaptation of Rhyme to Poetry.—We find here also an explanation of the adaptation of rhymed verse to poetic ideas. Emotion is a subjective state, and is interrupted by any objective diversion of the attention. Pain and grief for example are forgot¬ten when the mind is occupied with externals. But rhyme, by the economy of expectant attention, reduces the causes of diversion ; for, substituting the regularity of periodic consonance for the irregularity of prose, it leaves the mind more completely absorbed in the contemplation of emotive images. 2. Meter. The regular recurrence of the accent constitutes meter. This regular movement economizes expectant attention by the certainty that a definite structure will follow. (1) Proof of the Value of Meter.—A proof that the structure is anticipated is found in the fact that a shock of disappointment is felt when the meter is imperfect. One may descend a flight of steps in the dark with rapidity and safety, if the steps are all equal, but one is sure to be impeded by inequalities. Why is this ? It is evidently owing to the certainty of uniformity in the steps, and the consequent removal of the necessity for constant attention. In other words, it is the economy of expectant attention. So in a metrical composition, the uniformity of structure relieves the mind from ex¬pectant attention. (2) Eicample.—An example will illustrate this state¬ment. The following description in prose demands some attention to the irregular construction of the sen¬tences, which abstracts just so much power from the total ability of the mind to feel the beauty of the scene described : "The sinuous paths of moss and lawn that lie across and along through this garden, some at once open to the breeze and the sun, some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, were all paved with delicate bells and daisies, as fair as the fabulous asphodels, and flowerets, drooping 88 day drooped, that fell into blue, purple, and white pavilions, to roof the glow-worm from the dew of evening." See now how much more impressive the loveliness of this scene becomes, when the poet's art, by rhyme and meter, removes the necessity of attention to the sen¬tential structure : "And the sinuous paths of lawn and moss, That led through this garden along and across Some open at once to the sun and the breeze, Some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, Were all paved with daisies and delicate bells, As fair as the fabulous asphodels, And flow'rets drooping as day drooped too, Fell into pavilions white, purple, and blue, To roof the glow-worm from the evening dew." (3) The Adaptation of Meter to Poetry,—It is evident that meter is not so well adapted to the ex¬pression of pure thought as to the expression of pure feeling, or the emotive images which produce feeling. There is an incongruity between pure thought and any uniform structure. A predetermined measure is a fet¬"er to the expression of abstract thought, and its stiff¬noss appears in the more purely thoughtful passages of didactic poetry. Meter often necessitates inversions and transpositions which obscure the thought. Rhyme limits the vocabulary too much for the exact expres¬sion of pure thought. Hence intellective statements are awkward in verse. The expression of emotion, however, finds in verse no real barrier. Emotion is less dependent on exact propositions, and arises more from affecting images, which may be combined as readily in meter as without it. (4) Ith7thm.—Rhythm differs from meter in re¬quiring a less regular recurrence of accent. Aristotle holds that every prose sentence should possess rhythm hut not meter. The practice of the best ancient writers evinces an esthetic perception of rhythmical beauty seldom equaled by the moderns. (6) Meter no Violation of Variety.—Meter is an apparent violation of the law of variety, but it is only apparent. Thought requires freedom of movement for its full and natural expression ; hence great variety a essential to prose, and its proper movement is rhyth¬mical. Emotion is best produced by contemplating a series of emotive images, without any abstraction of the attention, hence its proper movement is metrical "The jerks, the breaks, the inequalities, and harsh nesses of prose, are fatal to the flow of a poetical im¬agination, as a jolting road or stumbling horse disturbs the reverie of an absent man. But poetry makes these odds all even. It is the music of language answering to the music of mind ; untying, as it were, 'the secret soul of harmony.' Wherever any object takes such a hold of the mind, by which it seeks to prolong and re¬peat the emotion, to bring all other objects into accord with it, and to give the same movement of harmony, sustained and continuous, or gradually varied accord¬ing to the occasion, to the sounds that express it—this is poetry. There is a deep connection between music and deep-rooted passion. In ordinary speech we arrive :it a certain harmony by modulations of the voice ; in poetry the same thing is done systematically by a regu¬lar collocation of syllables." * Variety is necessary even iri verse, but it is variety in uniformity. The =auras, emphases, and rhetorical suspensions break the monotony of the measure. The distinction be¬tween the variety required in prose and in poetry is based on this : feeling is a state, and must not be dis¬turbed; thought is a process, and lives by motion. III. SENTENCES. Variety applies (1) to the length, and (2) to the structure of sentences. 1. Length. Dr. Blair's observations on this point can scarcely be improved. He says : "If we would keep up the atten¬tion of the reader or hearer, if we would preserve vivacity and strength in our composition, we must be very attentive to vary our measures. . . Short sen¬tences should be mixed with long and swelling ones, to render discourse sprightly as well as magnificent" f Closeness of attention to musical effect may itself be come a source of monotony by the too frequent repeti¬tion of a typical sentence which by itself is melodious. Discords are purposely introduced into music to.break the monotony of excessive sweetness. 2. Structure. Sentences similarly constructed soon become weani some. Variety should extend to the distribution ol members and the cadence of the period. It has been shown that the different kinds of sentence, the loose, the peiiodic, and the balanced, have their peculiar offices in expression. Variety in sentential structure is certain to follow from variety and affluence of ideas, for each succeeding idea will naturally assume a form corresponding to itself. Dr. Blair says truly : "To have only one tune, or measure, is not much better than having none at all. A very vulgar ear will enable a writer to catch some one melody, and to form the run of his sentences according to it ; which soon proves disgusting."* IV FIGURES. Variety in the use of figures may be violated in two ways : (1) by using such as are similar; and (2) by using them too profusely. 1. Similarity. The repetition of any one kind of figure, such as metaphor, climax, antithesis, or hyperbole, renders a composition wearisome. This is especially the ease when they are drawn from one object. Trite similes and metaphors want the charm of novelty, which is a form of variety. 2. Profusion. Too many figures of whatever kind produce a feel¬ing of satiety, as the palate is sated by immoderate indulgence. Cicero says : "In all human things, dis¬gust borders so nearly on the most lively pleasures, that we need not be surprised to find this hold in speech. From reading either poets or orators we may easily satiety ourselves, that neither a poem nor an oration, which, without intermission, is showy and sparkling, can please na long."* Quintilian says of figures, that, 'as they beautify composition when they are season¬ably introduced, so they deform it greatly, if too fre. quently sought after."t Crowding together many fig¬ures is certain to result in confusion, which, aside from the violation of the law of variety, is a sufficient reason for their moderate use.